Rob Ryerson

Rob Ryerson, along with his brother Rich, attended Oakland Mills High School where he played for the school's boys soccer team. He was selected as the Howard County "Player of the Year." He was also a high school All-American his senior year. Ryerson played four seasons of collegiate soccer while attending the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). He was All Far West in 1983, 1984 and 1985. He was also the 1985 All Big West Player of the Year. He was a third team NSCAA All-American in 1984 and 1985 and a Soccer America Magazine first team All American in 1985. He holds the top two positions on the Big West season scoring record list with 21 goals (9 assists) in 1985 and 20 goals (7 assists) in 1984. He also scored 16 goals in 1983. He attained his degree and graduated from UNLV in 1988.

After leaving UNLV, Ryerson played the 1986 season with the San Diego Nomads of the Western Soccer Alliance. He was 5th on the alliance's goals list with six.[1] In June 1986, the San Diego Sockers selected Ryerson in the first round of the Major Indoor Soccer League draft.[2] He began the season on the Sockers' reserve team, but returned to UNLV to complete his undergraduate degree. Then in February 1987, he signed with the Baltimore Blast. The Sockers contested it and the league nullified the contract and awarded Ryerson's rights to the Sockers only to have the Sockers immediately waive Ryerson who then signed with the Blast.[3] He never played a first team game with Baltimore before being released in October 1987. In the summer of 1987, Ryerson signed with the independent Washington Diplomats.[4] In December 1987, Ryerson signed with the Maryland Bays of the American Soccer League.[5][6][7][8] He was a 1988 ASL All Star and a member of the 1990 APSL championship Bays. In the fall of 1988, Ryerson signed with the Fort Wayne Flames of the American Indoor Soccer Association under coach and former Blast teammate Dave MacKenzie. Ryerson appeared in the final 26 games of the season, scored 6 goals and added 5 assists for 11 points. In 1992, he played 1 game for a total of 6 minutes with the Tampa Bay Rowdies in the American Professional Soccer League.[9] In 1994, he played with the Washington Warthogs of the Continental Indoor Soccer League. In 1996, he became an assistant coach with the Warthogs.

In 1988, he played his only full international match with the United States men's national soccer team. He scored the winning goal in a 1-0 victory over Costa Rica on June 14.[10]